Emiyanez
Member
Hi all,
This is my very first post so, before starting, I would like to thank you all for the hard work that you put on this site!
Going straight to the topic, I am a Marantz kid. Currently, I have a PM-8005 that I am very happy with connected to a pair of Dali Oberon 5. Long story short, I am mostly listening to digital sources (Tidal and Quobuz streamed over a Wiim Pro into a Topping E30II and finally the PM-8005) so I do not need all the inputs and features of a proper integrated amp. After reading a lot in the forum, I decided to give a go to an Hypex Ncore based stereo amp block from Audiophonics, because of the small footprint, consumption and great measurements.
When I plugged it in (in this case I am using the Topping E30II as pre-amp for volume control), I was blown away by the difference in sound in comparison to the Marantz. I did some volume-normalised A/B test as good as I could and, without going into adjectives that may create some controversy, the two amplifiers sounded really different to my ears (also to my wife's).
I have learnt in this forum that good amplifiers are not supposed to sound and about the need of having good response and flat frequencies across the spectrum. However, we listen to music with our ears and I still like the "muddy" sounds coming out of the PM-8005 in my system.
My question is what I should look for in amp's measurements to explain such signature in case I decide to move away from Marantz in the future. What's the science behind the sound? I have seen some measurements of the PM-8006 but I cannot identify which is the main source of the sound difference compared to, for instance, the Ncore-based module (it was reviewed by Amir).
Thanks a lot in advance!
This is my very first post so, before starting, I would like to thank you all for the hard work that you put on this site!
Going straight to the topic, I am a Marantz kid. Currently, I have a PM-8005 that I am very happy with connected to a pair of Dali Oberon 5. Long story short, I am mostly listening to digital sources (Tidal and Quobuz streamed over a Wiim Pro into a Topping E30II and finally the PM-8005) so I do not need all the inputs and features of a proper integrated amp. After reading a lot in the forum, I decided to give a go to an Hypex Ncore based stereo amp block from Audiophonics, because of the small footprint, consumption and great measurements.
When I plugged it in (in this case I am using the Topping E30II as pre-amp for volume control), I was blown away by the difference in sound in comparison to the Marantz. I did some volume-normalised A/B test as good as I could and, without going into adjectives that may create some controversy, the two amplifiers sounded really different to my ears (also to my wife's).
I have learnt in this forum that good amplifiers are not supposed to sound and about the need of having good response and flat frequencies across the spectrum. However, we listen to music with our ears and I still like the "muddy" sounds coming out of the PM-8005 in my system.
My question is what I should look for in amp's measurements to explain such signature in case I decide to move away from Marantz in the future. What's the science behind the sound? I have seen some measurements of the PM-8006 but I cannot identify which is the main source of the sound difference compared to, for instance, the Ncore-based module (it was reviewed by Amir).
Thanks a lot in advance!